Saw horses are commonly used in carpentry work for supporting the work being worked on and the tools being used. For example, one may place two saw horses parallel one another, put a plank across the two horses' top surfaces, and saw or cut the plank. One important advantage to using saw horses is that when cutting items supported thereon, such as wood, it is common to cut completely through the item, such by sawing off an end, by contouring the sides, and by drilling a hole. If the item were on a table, the table could get defaced, marred or even ruined.
Today, saw horses are either permanently assembled wood or plastic or are collapsible. Examples of the former are common and examples of the latter are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 467,081, 3,035,660, 4,105,091, 4,182,432, 4,433,753, 4,574,917, 4,763,757, and 4,923,051. In each of these patents, one or more parts of the saw horse are disassembled from the main part for ease of storage and/or for ease of transportation. Unfortunately, these permanent saw horses and collapsible saw horses provide little more than a fixed work or support surface; some also provide means for maintaining the saw horse in the collapsed stage for storage or transportation. Consequently, because the saw horses cannot be expanded, the uses for such saw horses are very limited.
An example of one of the above noted saw horses is shown and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,051. This patent shows a collapsible sawhorse comprised of three components, namely a main body portion, identified as an upright base plate, and two slottably connected interlocking leg plates. The top surface is rigidly connected to and extended transversely and outwardly from the base plate adjacent the top edge. The top surface includes a downwardly extending flange that partially defines a pocket between the base plate and the flange for temporarily receiving and supporting one or more leg plates in a generally stacked engagement with the base plate upon inversion of the base plate. As noted, this type of saw horse is usable only in a limited capacity, as a work and support surface. Also, while it may appear to be advantageous to invert the base plate and carry the removed legs in the pre-formed pockets adjacent thereto, it also subjects the top surface to potential damage and abuse. For example, as with a suit case, one carrying this horse in its collapsed condition could easily drag it on the ground or drop it. With respect to the leg plate connections, there are no means provided for ensuring the holding of the legs to the main body. Consequently, one lifting or moving the assembled horse might be faced with one or both legs falling from the main body.
These and other disadvantages found in the art are overcome by the present invention which provides improvements thereover, as well as novel elements and components thereto. Specifically, the carpentry work station of the present invention can be expanded so as to increase the working and supporting surfaces. It can be set up as a power miter box stand, a power table saw stand, a router table stand, and a jig saw table stand. In addition, planks of different sizes can be held in a number of different positions for working thereon or for providing an extra work shelf. Pipes can be further held for working on. Moreover, the present invention holds tools and instruments for easy access by the worker.